A young boy's misguided dismissal of legend lands him in the clutches of the possessive Margarash.
"The coins that fall are for Margarash, / Leave them where they lie," goes the cautionary song, warning those looking for spare change to give their couch cushions a wide berth. Collin, a light-skinned young numismatist, looks for coins everywhere, meticulously arranges his collection, and loves flipping a “magic” silver quarter into a golden dollar. Collin scoffs at the song’s warning, but he soon regrets his folly when the furious Margarash snatches him into a lair below the couch springs and locks him in a cage made of lost pens and remote controls. Even though the monster's enormous coin collection is spectacular and Collin takes quiet pleasure in suggesting the best way to arrange it, the boy eventually longs for his family so much that he agrees to show the Margarash his secret coin-flip trick in exchange for his return. The Margarash agrees, but in an unexpected twist, the pair soon miss each other, and the contrite monster offers his hand (and coins) in friendship. Despite a few moments where the narrative seems to lose focus, Riddle's prose provides a strong momentum overall, driving page turns and inspiring Miller's whimsical, childlike illustrations, which depict the titular monster as a gray, furred creature with a comically toothy underbite.
A sweet tale of a mutual passion and an unlikely friendship. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-59270-216-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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Pippa conquers a fear of the creatures that emerge from her storybooks at night.
Pippa’s “wonderfully wild imagination” can sometimes run “a little TOO wild.” During the day, she wears her “armor” and is a force to be reckoned with. But in bed at night, Pippa worries about “villains and monsters and beasts.” Sharp-toothed and -taloned shadows, dragons, and pirates emerge from her storybooks like genies from a bottle, just to scare her. Pippa flees to her parents’ room only to be brought back time and again. Finally, Pippa decides that she “needs a plan” to “get rid of them once and for all.” She decides to slip a written invitation into every book, and that night, they all come out. She tries subduing them with a lasso, an eye patch, and a sombrero, but she is defeated. Next, she tries “sashes and sequins and bows,” throwing the fashion pieces on the monsters, who…“begin to pose and primp and preen.” After that success, their fashion show becomes a nightly ritual. Clever Pippa’s transformation from scared victim of her own imagination to leader of the monster pack feels fairly sudden, but it’s satisfying nonetheless. The cartoony illustrations effectively use dynamic strokes, shadow, and light to capture action on the page and the feeling of Pippa's fears taking over her real space. Pippa and her parents are brown-skinned with curls of various textures.
A delicious triumph over fear of night creatures. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5420-9300-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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Magical moonbeams awaken a pumpkin patch to raucous Halloween-season revelry.
A moonbeam illuminates and energizes a smiley-faced pumpkin sitting alone on a stair; it promptly takes off to find a friend with whom to have a good time. An entire pumpkin patch, also sparked by the magical moon, instantly comes alive. And what merriment all the grinning gourds get up to! Their playful shenanigans include piling high on top of one another, bouncing on a trampoline, dancing, marching, and drumming, wearing costumes, and competing in games. They even engage in activities usually reserved for other holiday-themed icons—flying on brooms and making magic, for instance. As dawn approaches, the pumpkin leader escorts the cavalcade back home. At sunrise, each one takes up residence on a different house’s front porch and awaits that evening’s moonbeams to work their magic again. Liveliness and good cheer abound in this frisky rhyming tale in which the perennial holiday symbols naturally take center stage. Perky couplets that read and scan very well appear on most pages and are accompanied by energetic, expressive illustrations that highlight vivid oranges, yellows, blues, purples, and greens with touches of other bright shades.
Readers will delight in discovering the joyous time pumpkins have when it’s Halloween. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-56332-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
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